Four nuclear plants await environment clearance from MoEF

Government said that four
nuclear plants proposed to be set up in different states by
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) are
awaiting environmental clearance from the Ministry of
Environment and Forests.

New Delhi: Government today said that four
nuclear plants proposed to be set up in different states by
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) are
awaiting environmental clearance from the Ministry of
Environment and Forests.

"NPCIL had submitted applications for approval for Terms
of Reference (TOR) for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
Studies for the sites in Fatehabad (Haryana), Mandla (Madhya
Pradesh), Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh) and Bhavnagar (Gujarat)
to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

"The TORs are to be approved by the Expert Appraisal
Committee (EAC) of MoEF. EAC, after review of the submissions
of NPCIL, has advised NPCIL to provide additional details on
land use and environmental setting of site," Minister of State
for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan told Lok Sabha in
a written reply to a question.

"Each of the projects has an associated township for the
employees. EAC also advised that TORs for township be also
submitted alongwith projects so that both can be approved
together. The revised TORs, as advised by EAC have been
submitted to MoEF in respect of Haryana project.

"In respect of the other three projects, the township
location and other details are being finalised with the
respective state governments, after which the revised TORs
will be submitted for approval of MoEF," he said.

Chavan said NPCIL officials, who had gone to collect soil
samples in Bhavnagar, were recently attacked by villagers.

"NPCIL has awarded geo technical investigations for the
site at Bhavnagar to Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL).
GPCL team was prevented from collecting soil samples by local
villagers at the site on June 6, 2010," the Minister said.

"The issue has been taken up with the state government
and work is expected to resume soon," Chavan said.

The EIA work on the sites is expected to start this year
progressively for all sites after approval of respective TORs
by MoEF, he said.